Zigging & Zagging

It’s hard to believe that I am on the 4th page of job history. I think I worked more than I realized!

Thankfully, as I was working at Southside Christian School, our whole family was together. Mike was working as a teacher and Assistant Athletic Director. Jon was in kindergarten, and Jana was 18 months old and in a program called “Tots Time Out.” She loved her teachers, but disliked when I dropped her off, and for some reason when I picked her up. When I picked her up, she was crying so loud that I had to take her into a closet so she would not disturb anyone. She made quite a scene. The only thing that seemed to calm her down was seeing her favorite boys on the way to my office. Teenage boys. We will never let her forget the kissing picture.

I enjoyed working as assistant to the Guidance Counselor. Counting out Stanford Achievement tests were not on my list of favorite things to do, but for the most part is was a good job. And I did learn something. As I watched the Guidance Counselor meet with students, I learned that it wouldn’t be something I wanted to do. I think this knocked out any job in which I would work with kids--of any age. I did end up being transferred to another department and became Assistant Office Manager.

I had the opportunity to work with  a woman who was a fantastic Office Manager. I also worked with the Superintendent. This was during the time of a major switch in office software. Microsoft came on the scene. We changed from Wordperfect to Microsoft Word. Changes like this are a frustrating experience for some, but I like the challenge. This is when I discovered that I learn technology fairly fast and I enjoy it immensely.

I would never want to do coding. I am drawn to software. I learn by watching YouTube videos and reading. I learn much more this way. I can focus on just those things that I need to know at the  time. I also learn by spending a lot of time in the software itself. Poking around and using the help function. This has caused problems from time to time. That is when I call an IT person to rescue me. They usually comment, “You’ve been trying to learn again, haven’t you?” Only one time did I cause a significant problem. I infected everyone with a virus. I learned my lesson.

After I had been there a couple of years the school was getting prepared for an accreditation visit. Accreditation visits are extremely important. The school must be sure that everything is close to perfect---from curriculum guides, scope and sequence, and even the atmosphere of the school. I can’t remember exactly how this happened, but the superintendent asked me to coordinate every aspect of the visit to make sure it went well. I don’t know why he trusted me with something that was so important to the future of the school. As I look back, it feels like it was one of those instances when someone saw something in me that I didn’t. There were no detailed instructions, no list, and really no specific information on what things needed to look like.

This is when I begun to see how I am wired. The whole project fell into place. I had volunteers that I led, ensured curriculum guides were complete, and kept the staff informed. There were more pieces than I can even remember. The project fell into place and just happened. I never felt stress and I never felt like I didn’t know what I was doing. In fact, I’ve never felt so confident in anything that I had done to that point. Something clicked in my mind and was confirmed after the project when the superintendent told me that I was a natural project manager. It was in my blood. I believe he was right. I look at life like all of it is a project. Someday I will explain that philosophy in another post.

While I was at Southside Christian School, I was also assistant to the Elementary Principal and the Director of Development. I was also asked to lead two large projects. The installation of two playgrounds. Elementary and toddlers. I learned a lot. Especially about child safely, and the complexity of such a project. I also had to learn about codes and running campaigns to raise money. Again, the projects came very naturally to me.

After my experience at the round bank, I decided that I needed to do something new. I have absolutely no idea how I landed at an advertising agency, but it was fun. Again, things were different then. Everything was done by hand. A “graphic designer” didn’t exist. Instead, the designer would order a velox, cut and pasted it on a board, and then took a photo of it for the publication. Because of my creative side, I would sneak back to their department to see what was going on. 

I was the receptionist. It was your basic office administrator position. I liked the job but I have to say that there was a partner that bugged me. He always did things at the last minute. Since he was a last minute guy, he had to write his copy in his car. As he was driving. He would hand me the mess when he returned, with apprehension on his face, and asked me to make his horrible document look professional. This was when I learned that it bothered me when people didn’t plan well. He eventually was fired.

I was promoted to Media Director after I had been there for a few months. It was a lot of fun. I had many tours of radio stations and newsrooms. I received awesome gifts. I went to concerts--Chicago, Huey Lewis and the News, Billy Joel, and Billy Ocean. It was funny because I knew nothing about buying media. I learned what Nielson ratings were on my own. Side note. In the 80’s they did the ratings by giving a random selection of surveys to individuals who filled them out while watching a television program or listening to the radio. This never seemed like an effective means of gathering this kind of information. All of that being said, as much as I liked the job, I ended up leaving. I found out I was pregnant with Jon and needed to find something less stressful--ha! Well, my next job certainly was not less stressful.

Like I shared in the beginning, my 20’s were a great time to learn what I liked and what I didn’t like. This next job decision was a doozy. I took a job as a K-4 assistant at the school where Mike worked. This is so hilarious. I can’t even begin to tell you all of the crazy stories. I’m surprised I didn’t end up in jail. The final straw was when a 4-year-old boy kicked me in my pregnant stomach then proceeded to bite my arm so hard that he broke the skin. I had a bruise in the spot of the bite mark for weeks. Thank God my doctor put me on bed rest and I was able to leave those adorable little munchkins. Needless to say, I have never made that decision again. Maybe that is why I didn’t babysit when I was in high school.

I felt horrible my entire pregnancy. I said I would never get pregnant again. Which is why we waited 5 years for our next baby. We made it through our first year with Jon. He was sick a lot, which didn’t leave time for much else, except I knew I had to continue bringing in an income.

When Jon was about 6 months old I took a temporary job at a hospital. I learned a lot. Especially that I would never do anything in the healthcare field again. At that point it was easy to make the decision to start my own business. I was what we would call today, a virtual assistant. I did “secretarial” work for people while Jon took his naps. The Advertising Club hired me to clean out their files. They paid me $20 an hour. That was quite a chunk of money back then.

After Jon was about 18 months old, a friend had just started with a network marketing company and we paired up and sold Christmas decorations. I didn’t sell much but ended up with some cool items that I still have today.

Mike was in school and also working which meant that many times he did most things at the last minute. I would hear him pecking away on the typewriter at 3:00 am and I typically felt bad for him. He never learned to type. I would get up and whip his paper out and then go to work. Again, my friend watched Jon and I went to work for a life insurance company. I worked for a very nice man. I was a receptionist/secretary and enjoyed the work. As I watched him, I realized I would hate selling insurance. Too much adding, subtracting, and other math.

Somewhere in here I did a temporary job at a warehouse doing data entry. Hmm, another job I disliked. Entering numbers was not my thing. I don’t like numbers. Because I don’t like numbers, I had a hard time finding them on the keyboard. Again, I’m not sure why they kept me. Instead they offered me a permanent position. I really began to think these people were half blind or there was nobody else in the job market.

I wish I would have written a timeline down when I was young. Somewhere in here, one of the partners for the advertising agency started out on his own. He asked me if I’d like to be his assistant. He told me that it was a very easy job. I could bring a book and read all day. I love to read. Getting paid to read is even better. Of course I took the job and enjoyed doing something easy.

Around this time  Mike wanted to work on his master’s at Grace college in Indiana. Quite frankly, I was incredibly excited because I wasn’t fond of living in the South. In fact I told Mike that I would never live in the South again. As you can see, if you know me now, that wasn’t the case.

I loved the little town we moved to. It was perfect. Even though I enjoyed the area, our first year in Indiana was very hard financially.

Mike was working at UPS and was promoted to shift supervisor. Thankfully, I had another friend who would watch Jon for me. I worked at the college as the Assistant to the Head of the Department of Education. This was an awesome job. I worked on a computer for the first time--in DOS. I was so intrigued with software. So I went to town. I created an office manual, a task sheet for the next person in my position, and all of the correspondence for the department.

Unfortunately, I developed chronic fatigue syndrome. I cut back my hours to half a day and came home to rest. Jon was a toddler so I would need to stay awake as he played by the bed. If you are unfamiliar with CFS, it is an immune system disorder that feels like mononucleosis on steroids. Doctors really had no idea how to treat it.

After a month in bed, I did some reading and thought I might try the natural route. We were fortunate  that we had a fantastic health food store in our little town. It was like a miniature Whole Foods. I had no Idea what I was doing, but the owner was incredibly helpful. They recommended a few things for me to try and encouraged me to come back if I had any questions.

In a matter of 2 weeks I was back to normal. This was the first thing that had worked for my CFS. That’s when I became hooked on the natural route. Since then---20 years---I think I have been to a traditional doctor once a year. I’ve only taken antibiotics once. As you can imagine, I really liked the health food store and ended up working there a few hours while I still continued at the college part-time.

During all of this I became pregnant with Jana. This was a much better pregnancy, because I knew what to do with natural solutions. I continued working at both jobs during my pregnancy.

We rented a little 800 square foot house that was adorable. Believe it or not, it had 3 bedrooms. So all was good.

Jana was a few days early and was born on December 8. She was a peanut, weighing about 6 pounds. Unfortunately, there was not an anesthesiologist in town so I went natural. Thankfully I have had all 3 of my kids 15 minutes after my water broke. Sorry if this is TMI.

I remember bringing Jana home. The windchill was about 20 below zero. This is when we begun to dislike cold weather. We had moved because Mike wanted his masters so that he could teach in a public school and then move on to another level at some point. He had been on several interviews at public schools and always landed in second place. He begun to look at teaching at a Christian school again.

I won’t go into all of the details, but we ended up at Southside Christian School in Greenville, SC. I say “we” because they hired me at the same time they hired Mike. The superintendent happened to know one of the professors at Grace College where I had worked. He gave me a stellar recommendation. The superintendent casually interviewed me after they were done grilling Mike. He offered me a job at the school. I worked as the assistant to the guidance counselor. This job was great because I learned something new. I liked the work that I did, but watched as the guidance counselor work with students. Again, I realized that working with kids, of any age was not my thing.

I think that working at the round bank, just because it was round, was not a wise decision. Even though I was promoted to Manager of the Checking Account Department after 3 months. I was very, very naive. This was when I discovered the definition of naive.

Keep in mind that this was 30 years ago. Everyone wrote checks or paid cash. The bank opened many checking accounts. The checking account department was in charge of processing all of the paper checks. We used a computer for something, but it barely played a role. I am still amazed that I took a job with counting money and math. I oversaw the ladies in my department to make ensure they were processing things correctly. Which, in itself, is funny because I had only been working at the bank for 3 months.

Around the time of my arrival to the checking account department, a sweet girl was opening a checking account for a man. He was a very nice man, a very attractive man, and full of many compliments. Of course she would open an account for him. Unfortunately for her, and for me, he was living out of a halfway house for kiting checks.

Shortly after the account was open I began to receive gifts. Tickets, more tickets, flowers, etc. They were from the man who kited checks. I didn’t keep any of these gifts but always took them to the Vice President. At least I was smart enough to know that something was up. Keep in mind that I have never laid eyes on him. Since I don’t want to keep calling him “halfway house” man, as it may offend others, I will divulge his real name. Dennis.

My drivers license needed to be renewed and changed to my new address. I asked the ladies in the checking account department if they could handle things for an hour while I was gone. Big mistake. While I was gone, they were processing checks, They noticed that Mr. Dennis did not have enough money in his account to cover his checks. They called him, he laid on the charm and said he would immediately be at the bank to deposit the money to cover the checks. He never came in. It was too late. On his word the person doing the processing fell for his charm. She put his checks through. Once one does that, they are gone. No turning back.

This wouldn’t have been a problem if it had been $100. Or even $500. Not a problem at all. Unfortunately, it was $80,000. There are so many things that I could say right now but it would be better to keep my comments to myself. I did know, as their boss, that the buck stops with me.

Keep in mind that I was a very naive 22-year-old. You should also know that I thought everybody liked me because nobody had ever disliked me to this point. I was always a responsible, hard-working employee. This I learned from my dad.

I was called to the president's office. Unfortunately, he didn’t know me. Even if he did know me, I was still responsible for the $80,000. He didn’t think I was a nice person. He did think I was responsible. He didn’t think I was hard-working. He thought I was a thief.

He didn’t say very nice things about me. He really hurt my feelings. Maybe that’s not a truthful statement. He really ticked me off. Then he started accusing. He was accusing me of things that I cannot  write about here. Let’s just suffice it to say that I didn’t just feel bad about the $80,000, I felt bad about me. As I look back, I learned about how NOT to manage people, He didn’t ask any questions. He made assumptions.

I ended up quitting the next day.

By the way, Mike and I were married by this time. He was in school and working so I could not be without a job for too long.

I don’t know why my ability to make good decisions suddenly went down the drain. If I were playing armchair psychologist, I could come up with a few reasons. I won’t go there because it would take too much time. I simply cannot believe I did this. I hate working with money, I can’t do math. And I certainly did not know anything about amortization. I had no idea what an interest rate was. And by now I hated working in banks.

So what did I do? I ended up working in the mortgage account department at another bank. It was horrible. It drained me of every ounce of energy. I didn’t know what I was doing. And, again, I have no idea why they kept me.

The job got exciting when suddenly, there was a man in a trench coat standing in front of my desk. I knew this wasn’t going to be good. He showed me his badge and said he was the FBI. There was quite a rumble in this open office area, and he wasn’t moving to a more private place. Of course this was about Mr. Dennis.

This was a federal offense. Because I was so naive I had no idea what a federal offense was. But it didn’t sound good. Especially since I didn’t know if he was talking about me or Mr. Dennis. I was relieved to find out that they were after Mr. Dennis. He had been caught using the same scam at other banks in town. I guess he was quite persuasive.

I wish I could be more succinct, but this story does not lend itself to brevity.

The agent informed me that I needed to go to the federal building to talk to the prosecuting attorney. In the meantime, I should not speak to anybody. The prosecuting attorney simply wanted to make sure he had the story straight and let me know that I would be called as a witness. I was 22. I was naive. I was in a new city. And I was pretty scared.

I certainly didn’t plan on talking to anyone, but I did. The defense attorney called me. He scared me even more. He said my name was going to be plastered all over the newspapers. The defense attorney was going to tell the jury that Mr. Dennis and I were in this scheme together. Along with some other things that I will not mention here. I still had never met Mr. Dennis. Which, in itself is very entertaining, had you been there and heard the murmurs of conversation.

The day of the trial came. I had so many emotions running through my head. I was only 22. Somehow I was responsible for someone stealing $80,000. I took the stand, For the first time I had seen Mr. Dennis.

The defense attorney begun to ask me questions. They were not nice questions. I couldn’t imagine that anyone would ask me those kind of questions. I was naive. The prosecuting attorney objected and threw a pencil at the defense attorney. It was all quite dramatic. It seemed that as soon as it started it was over. I was asked to step down. But I couldn’t leave. I had to watch the trial.

I looked at the jury. I watched the prosecuting attorney. The prosecuting attorney was showing the jury how a checking account works. The jury looked puzzled. I was puzzled. The defense attorney was smiling. At that point I knew that there was a slim chance that the jury understood. Mr. Dennis was going to get off.

I felt sick in the pit of my stomach. I didn’t want to see anymore. I wanted to go home. As Mike and I left, I couldn’t believe who was leaning against the wall in the hallway. Mr. Dennis. He looked at me and smiled. Then he said something I won't repeat.

We frequently watched the news. I had no idea that Mr. Dennis was such a criminal. They covered the story. When the verdict was read, “not guilty,” Mr. Dennis literally fainted. That in itself should tell you a lot about Mr. Dennis.

What lessons did I learn? I don’t like math. I don’t like working with money, I don’t understand amortization, and I would never work in a bank again. Some people will not like me. I was not the most likable person back then. I’m more likable now, but still have my days.

I’m not sure I have been as naive since. Although some would say I’m gullible. I wonder if naive and gullible are the same thing. Well, I learned a lot. I learned to ask more questions and make sure I am not aiding a criminal.

Joelle and I were together and I don’t know why but I started telling her about the jobs I have had through the years. I asked if I could practice on her as I decided it would be a funny blog post. I have had a lot of jobs.

You know that time in the early years of your life when you really don’t know yourself? You try different jobs, mainly to make money, and along the way you find some things that you like and some you dislike.This was my experience. There were  jobs that were a good fit and some that were not a good fit. Nevertheless, I learned a lot along the way. About myself. About others. And about jobs I enjoyed. And jobs I hoped and prayed would never be a part of my life again.

I started working when I was 15. I was a waitress at the family restaurant in town. I would do the early shift, starting around 5:30 am, then would work after school for the afternoon shift. I enjoyed the early shift. Vivian, the cook, would always have a pancake waiting for me. There was a round table in the back corner where some of the men who owned local businesses sat, drank coffee, and smoked. I did that until my senior year in high school.

As I look back, when I had a glimpse of what a future career might look like, I had some opportunities to do things that seemed to mesh with my abilities. These were the jobs that I enjoyed. These were the jobs that came naturally to me. Later I discovered that is how it feels to be in your “sweet spot.”

I would say I was a average student. I tend to be thick headed (ha!) and didn’t work hard in the classes that I thought were useless. Like Algebra. I really would like to do it all over again. You live and you learn. There were a few classes that I looked forward to all day. Typing, art, and steno block.

In art we did a lot of funky projects. Very retro. At least now they’re retro. All of the art “techniques” that we learned are the hobbies of today. Macrame, mixed media, jewelry making, and weaving. I have actually kept all of the things that I made. I was especially proud of my silver bracelet with turquoise. This was the first time that I had the opportunity to solder. I did not burn myself. I did not burn others. And I did not set the art studio on fire. This is when I learned that I had a creative side.

My very favorite class was steno block. This was especially great because we were in the class for two whole hours. I would have passed out in a two hour math class. This was a business class and we  would work through projects. In the 70’s the project was a packet that included the instructions of what was expected. We worked independently. One project  was starting a business from the ground up, while managing the steps along the way. I whipped through this without any glitches and enjoyed every minute. Projects are my thing. It wasn’t until I was in  my thirties that a boss saw my potential in this area. At that point I started to pay more attention. I learned that all of life is a project. I know that might sound silly, but that is how I’ve always looked at things without even realizing it. Yet, another blog post.

My steno block instructors liked me and recommended me for a job.. In a factory. Typing bills of lading. Physically in the factory. No office for me. I did learn (from my class) that I was good at projects, but also  learned that this job was not a project. It was misery. It ranked at the top of my most hated jobs. That job didn’t work out for numerous reasons.

My dad, being the networker that he was, recommended me for a position as the secretary to the Director of Community Education. I was 17. My dad always shot for the stars and saw potential in me. I am still not sure that I see my potential in the same way he did.

Before I go on, I have to explain what it was like to work in an office in the 70’s. The most amazing technology to hit was the IBM selectric typewriter. I am enough of a geek, and collect typewriters, that I actually looked this up. I should have never done this as the IBM selectric typewriter recently turned 50. This makes me feel incredibly old. They were famous for their type ball, which allowed the typist to change fonts and characters. For me, this was a cool thing, and when I  also realized that I was a font geek. The most convenient feature was the correction tape that was actually part of the printing ribbon. I’m going to stop here. Many of you will have no idea why the correction tape was so convenient. Just know this, Seventy-five percent of offices used the IBM selectric typewriter and it was the beginning of desktop publishing. I would like to get my hands on one.

My job as the Assistant to the Director of Community Education is in my top 5. The Director was a wonderful woman who spent time mentoring me. It is rare now, but even more rare then, to see a woman in a Director’s position. I think that says a lot about who she was. It was a privilege to serve her. I learned that I liked to help others, and I really liked having a mentor.

The summer before my first year of college was the summer I worked on the carrot farm. Lets just say that this job taught me that I hated manual labor, boring and monotonous work, and factory-like environments. That’s all I have to say about the carrot farm.

For the next two summers I worked at Gull Lake Bible Conference. Guests would come to the conference for a week to hear special speakers. As a summer college employee, I would do a variety of things. I worked in the dining room, Sweet-Shop, hotel, and cleaned the houses that guests would stay in. My summers at Gull Lake were the best of my early years of employment. I enjoyed the variety of the job.

This is when I also discovered that I like to learn. Well, I like to learn what I want to learn. Every evening I would sit in the chapel and listen to the message. I believe this was my first big growth spurt.

My timeline is off, but I also worked at a five and dime store. I was able to get this job because I did a little networking with the owner. He was one of the men who sat at the round table in the restaurant. The restaurant was next to his five and dime store, so we saw each other quite a bit. When I learned that he had a job available I jumped on the opportunity. He seemed glad to have me as an employee. It may be because he had seen me work as he sat at the round table in the restaurant. I liked working there, at least for a short-term job. The store had this amazing candy counter in the center. It was a U shape with a wood top and trim and glass all around. Inside were big chunks of chocolate, white chocolate, peanut butter fudge … need I keep going? 

My dad would stop in for chocolate-covered peanuts. I loved seeing him and he loved seeing me. It was the best part of the job. That and knowing he was always so proud of me. I learned that it was a good thing to take a break at times and have an easy job. I also learned about networking for the first time.

Back to my jobs at Gull Lake Bible Conference. During my second summer there I decided I would not return to college. This was for several reasons, but mainly because I had no idea what I wanted to do. Well, maybe that wasn’t the main reason. I had also just met Mike. By the way, are you beginning to see how independent I was? As I think back I don’t remember consulting with anyone about my decisions. I simply decided what to do and let my parents know what I was doing. I never regretted those decisions. I really couldn’t tell you why. I guess I just felt confident in what I was doing. And God was really looking out for me!

After the summer I continued living at Gull Lake. When summer turned to fall I took a job as a bank teller in a nearby town. Just writing that makes me chuckle. As I said, you know that I just can’t do math. My drawer was constantly out of balance. I don’t know why I didn’t get fired. I think it was after my $100 error that I decided this may not be the best job for me. I learned that I didn’t like working in any environment that required counting money or using other math skills.

Now I have to jump back to the first time I met Mike. This, in itself, is another blog post. Let me suffice it to say, that the moment we saw each other we knew that we would love each other. He was 19 and I was 21. He knew who he was and what he wanted to do with his life. I still had no idea. I like guys who have goals. He wasn’t the typical 19-year-old. In fact I had never met anyone like him.

After he left for school in Alabama that summer,  we wrote to each other constantly. I’ve kept all of the letters. Mike’s parents took me to Alabama to see him in October. It was then that he proposed to me. On a mountain. In the center of Birmingham. With the city lights below. Keep in mind that we had only known each other for 4 months. There was no way that I was going to stay in Michigan now. I moved to Birmingham. Yes, I was still 21. Sometimes I wonder how I did all of this. 

After I was settled in I knew I had to find a job. This was during a time when finding a job was very easy. I remember driving by this round, yes round, bank and thought that I wanted to work at that bank because it was round. Very logical. This, of course, was not a good decision on my part. You probably remember that I dislike counting money and doing math. But I liked the round bank. I got a job at the round bank. I was a teller for 3 months when they promoted me to manager of the checking account department.

I really think I have to stop here. Working in the checking account department is a story in itself. This is the first and only experience with the FBI. Back then they really did wear long trench coats. When they started heading your way you immediately thought you were in some kind of trouble.